TERA Feature Highlights Artistic Vision and the Origins of BAMs

En Masse Entertainments design team highlights the artistic vision behind TERAs BAMs and goes behind the scenes with the ovolith.

En Masse Entertainment has revealed a new article featuring the development details highlighting the origins of TERAÂs BAMs (Big Ass Monsters) and the artistic vision of the design team. The new feature is penned by TERAÂs PC Concept Lead Artists Yoonkyoung, Kim, Jeongmyoung Lee and Monster Concept Lead Artist Junghyun Kim and features some insightful information on the teamÂs artistic approach and a look at the ovoliths. Follow along after the break for the full story.

The Artistic Process
Our internal process is not too different from other design companies. HereÂs how it flows:

Especially for monsters, we proceed with research and drafting some sketches after we receive information on the monsterÂs background and combat style from the game design team.

After we make some sketches, we discuss our ideas and make decisions on how to create the monster so itÂll work in the game. Then we complete the animation in perspective view to deliver the feel of the monster, make three-view drawings (useful in creating 3D), figure out how the monster moves, and so forth.

The most critical part of the process: the ideas of the concept artists and the people who lead the artists when they bring the concepts to life.

The Challenge of Originality
One could say that medieval elements have been infinitely repeated in the MMORPG genre. So weÂve come to ask ourselves whether we should follow along with medieval-looking elements that have been standardized after repeated use, and how original a game can be if it only has images with medieval-like elements.

Instead, we began to insert other artistic elements into medieval components, creating a fusion with medieval concepts as the base. And we sought ways to add originality and popular appeal to medieval clothingÂanother element that no longer seems exotic due to its frequent use.

Furthermore, TERA has realistic graphics, so we have an environment that can incorporate design elements that exist in the real world.

Rather than looking at character clothing and armor design as a simple concept art task, our design goal is to make clothing look good on the playerÂs in-game character and to emphasize what makes that character specialÂlike a Âgood fitÂ when a real person wears clothes. And because of this, many fashion designers give us inspirations.

We also carefully consider the materials for our clothing and armor. Because the outfits look so real, we have to research each materialÂs texture, shine, and finish, so we can incorporate the materialsÂ characteristics into the art. For this reason, we need the perspectives of many different kinds of designers: fashion designers, industrial designers, and graphic artists, for example. Getting all these perspectives together is quite a challenge.

For monster concept creation, we have an additional challenge. The monsterÂs outer shape matters a lot in combat because TERA lets players aim their attacks naturally. Auto-targeting games only need a normal attack with different attack motions, but we have more aspects to consider because the playerÂs character actually gets hit in TERA. But this extra challenge is one of the joys of creating monsters for TERA.

Final Thoughts
An online game has everlasting life as long as the game is in service. Our task, then, is providing the necessary variety to make that virtual reality flourish. It will take more research on playersÂ different perspectives to match their numerous expectations.

With TERA, we try to deliver a new feeling to the playersÂsomething theyÂve never experiencedÂand we will try even harder in the future. Thank you for your continued support!

Story Niche
Ovoliths are the largest arachnens, the children of the goddess Arachne. Like Arachne, arachnens are greedy and prone to collecting things simply to satisfy their material lusts. Arachnens are tough creatures, able to survive the deserts of Val Aureum and the icy hills of Westonia. Ovoliths are the most solitary of the arachnensÂeven when found in numbers, they usually work alone. Ovoliths are aggressive, capable fightersÂripping through groups of soldiers with ease.